"I'm good at watching sports on TV," cracked the 40-year-old resident of Pelham, New Hampshire, and the native of Burlington, Mass. "I think I played soccer in high school, for about three days."

Isn't it ironic that as an adult, Green is busy each and every Wednesday in a competitive sports league? In fact, it's a league he actually help start from scratch.

A few years back, Green dove head first into the world of Trapshooting.

He admits, he hadn't actually pulled the trigger on any kind of gun since he was in the boy scouts about 30 years earlier, but when he discovered a local gun club and stumbled upon the sport of Trapshooting, there was no looking back.

"I started doing scorekeeping for Trap," Green recalls of his introduction to the sport. "And the next thing you know, I was neck-deep in it."

Trapshooting, according to Green, shares many of the disciplines of popular activities such as golf and bowling. Like many of these sports, competitions can be balanced by handicaps so all shooters are in an equal position to win.

"Everyone can participate," Green said. "What's nice about the sport is you compete against yourself and you also compete against others. Even if you're not very good, you're competing with other people that are in your class."

"They come from all over," said Green. "We had a couple of people from Canada at the New Hampshire state championships. It's crazy where they come from."

The attraction?

Shooting at flying targets that are released from a machine or "a house" between 16 and 27 yards away. The targets are generally released one by one in rounds of 25 and shooter's earn points by simply hitting the targets.

Trap is broken into singles and doubles.

Hudson, N.H. resident Phil Wright is a veteran of Trapshooting for more than 50 years.

"For a young person, it's like a video game in real time," said Wright, whose father managed a shooting range in New Hampshire for almost 30 years. "[Kids] love it. It's amazing watching these young people. There's a lot of camaraderie. I think the video game stuff actually helps them."

There are two ways to go about Trapshooting, as a registered competitor or as a recreational player. Registered trap shooting consists of sanctioned events, membership dues to the Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA) and an organized system that tracks results and progress officially (www.shootata.com). Registered shooters are ranked by class and have handicaps, similar to golf. Green's "yardage" handicap is 19.

Page 2 of 3 - Green's league in Methuen is different. It's recreational and open to members and guests. The league runs from April through early-August and is always looking for new shooters.

"This league is probably one of the best things I've ever done," he said. "This year we ran a 14-week season with almost 70 shooters and eight teams. After 14 weeks, it all came down to ties for first place and third place."

Green, who started the league four years ago with his friend Wayne Osborne, said the team aspect is enjoyable despite the individual nature of the sport.

"This is a way for you to get together with friends and compete together," said Green, who said his league has players ranging in age from 15 to a group that only considers people older than 70 to join their squad. That group is called ‘The Old Guns.' "Our league is 50 percent about the shooting and 50 percent about the eating. After we go shoot, we go into the clubhouse and make dinner."

There's also a well-known Greater Lowell Trap League (www.gltrapleague.com) that has almost 50 teams throughout the area at six different levels of skill. That league involves traveling to different clubs for its competitions while Green's league hosts competition in Methuen-only.

Like most sports that rose to the height of popularity a few decades ago, Trapshooting and other activities are always hoping to attract younger players to boost the future of the sport.

"That's really what we're trying to do," said Wright. "And if they stop because of school or whatever, later in life, maybe they'll come back and participate again."

Wright is the treasurer of the Minute Man Sportsman's Club in Burlington, where he has been a member for the past 33 years.

While Wright says that Trapshooting has been gaining popularity with the younger generation over the past 10 years, he admits that there are obvious challenges.

"The problem," he said, "is that you're dealing with a lethal weapon. It's a little different in intensely-populated parts of the world. Most of the hunting areas have been absorbed by development. Basically, shooting is limited to ranges of varying degrees."

And unlike bowling or golf where players can rent equipment at the facility and try as a newcomer with reckless abandon, shooting sports like Trapshooting and similar disciplines like skeet shooting and sporting clays, require an FID card (Firearm Identification) and a gun.

"There's really no easy way to go out and be introduced to it," said Wright. "The first order of business is always safety."

Back in the 1960s, there were several gun clubs focused on the public and had instructors working throughout the day and night, but those clubs eventually closed. Now, hopeful shooters must join a club in order to be able to get some shooting in.

Page 3 of 3 - Wright said the club in Burlington has more than 300 members.

"In the 1970s and 1980s, I'd say 50 percent of our membership was competitive shooters," he said. "Now it's about 90 percent recreational. They just shoot to have fun and see their friends. They just want to have a good time and shoot a few targets."

The ATA currently has between 30,000 and 35,000 competitors nationwide.

Men like Wright and Green are hoping, those numbers climb.

"It's very similar to golf," added Green. "It will frustrate you to all ends, but you'll go back and do it again in hopes that you'll pick up a stroke or pick up a target. It's something that you can do on our own, it's something that you can do as a team, it's just a fantastic sport."

According to www.goal.org, here is some information about FID Cards in Massachusetts.

Q. How do I know if I'm eligible for an FID Card?

A. The FID Card will be refused to a person who:

* has ever been convicted of a violent crime or a violation of any drug law;

within the last five years has been convicted of, or released from confinement, probation or parole for: a felony, adjudicated a youthful offender, a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for more than two years (includes OUI after July 1994), or a violation of any gun law for which a sentence could be imposed;

* has been confined to any hospital or institution for mental illness, or under treatment or confinement for drug addiction or habitual drunkenness, unless you submit an affidavit from a physician;

* is the subject of an outstanding arrest warrant in any state or federal jurisdiction;

* is under the age of 15 (or between 15 and 18 without written parental consent);

* is not a resident of the Commonwealth

* is the subject of a restraining order.

Q. Where do I apply for an FID Card?

A. At the police department in the city or town where you live or have a place of business.

Q. What can I expect for the application procedure?

A. You will be required to fill out a standard application, be fingerprinted and be photographed (or supply photos of a specific size). You can also expect to be interviewed. Each Card is valid for six years from date of issue. The price has been standardized at $100, though you may be asked to pay for photos.